"What did you say?!"
Venerable Abbot Yansong, at his advanced age, should have been calm about everything, but his expression changed drastically at this moment.
"This body is merely a Dharma body, a puppet, not my true self!"
Upon hearing this, Venerable Abbot Yansong sighed helplessly, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"
"Damn it..."
Yan Shouyi muttered an expletive under his breath. It wasn't like he asked for his inner demon to be removed. If you had said something beforehand, you wouldn't have captured the wrong person!
Fortunately, this had no effect. Venerable Abbot Yansong comforted Yan Shouyi, "Wait for this old monk to finish his cultivation, and then you can call your true self over."
Removing an inner demon was not that simple. Even for Venerable Abbot Yansong, he couldn't just stop.
He could only slowly retract his power, which required some time.
During this period, Yan Shouyi was also unable to move.
"Fine... let it be..."
Yan Shouyi resigned himself to his fate. He realized that although Venerable Abbot Yansong had no ill intentions towards him, he had to bow his head when under someone else's roof. Fortunately, he had been cautious and sent his Glacier Dharma Body. Otherwise, if Venerable Abbot Yansong had harbored malicious intent, he would have been trapped.
As the old and young man stared at each other, waiting for the cultivation to conclude, Yan Shouyi suddenly caught a glimpse of a dark shadow appearing behind Venerable Abbot Yansong.
At the same time, Yan Shouyi's true self, who was at the back mountain, also noticed that Miaohua was not in the back mountain.
With the connection between the two souls, the Glacier Dharma Body instantly realized something was wrong.
He shouted, "Miaohua, you dead bald donkey, what are you doing here?!"
It was Miaohua who had appeared. He had not obeyed Master Benheng's instructions to go to the back mountain for penance.
Instead, he had been lurking nearby. Upon learning that Venerable Abbot Yansong was about to remove Yan Shouyi's inner demon, he revealed himself.
Appearing at this critical moment was by no means a good thing.
Miaohua, with a gloomy expression, walked directly towards Yan Shouyi.
Yan Shouyi realized something was wrong and shouted at Miaohua:
"So you were waiting for me here! But it's useless if you kill me, this is not my true self!"
He had already made up his mind that once Miaohua made a move against him, his true self would immediately "kidnap" Changshan and flee Han Mountain Temple with him.
Furthermore, no matter the future relationship between the two factions, and no matter how Venerable Abbot Yansong protected Miaohua, he would definitely kill this wolf-hearted false monk!
What kind of monk ponders how to kill people every day?!
"Amitabha..." Miaohua approached Yan Shouyi and sneered at him, "Yan Shouyi, I wondered how you could completely escape the control of the evil Buddha. So you still have an inner demon within you... This is great news!"
Venerable Abbot Yansong seemed to realize something and turned his head with difficulty, saying:
"Miaohua, don't do anything foolish! The sea of suffering is boundless; turn back to the shore!"
"Turn back? Do I still have a chance to turn back?"
Miaohua said sinisterly to Venerable Abbot Yansong, "No matter how kind or indulgent you are to me, my heart will not be moved one bit. Because the reason I am where I am today is all thanks to you! Yansong!!!"
As his voice fell, Miaohua suddenly raised his six-ringed tin staff and smashed it fiercely towards Venerable Abbot Yansong's head!
Yan Shouyi was stunned.
Miaohua's real target wasn't me, but Venerable Abbot Yansong?!
What kind of hatred and grudges did these two have!
*Thwack!*
The six-ringed tin staff smashed fiercely into Venerable Abbot Yansong's skull. Because he was in the process of retracting his power, Venerable Abbot Yansong didn't even use the Golden Body of Buddhism to defend himself, relying entirely on his physical body to withstand the blow!
After all, he was old, and his body was not as strong as before. He was immediately battered and bleeding by Miaohua, with a visible large hole in the back of his head!
Blood gushed out!
"Abbot!"
Yan Shouyi cried out in shock, but he was unable to move.
Regardless of the past grievances between Miaohua and Venerable Abbot Yansong, the fact that Venerable Abbot Yansong died in front of him was something he couldn't wash clean even if he jumped into the Yellow River!
At that time, the people of Han Mountain Temple would only believe that Yan Shouyi had killed Venerable Abbot Yansong!
The severity of the situation far exceeded that of Yan Shouyi's rampage in Rongcheng.
In the worst-case scenario, Yan Shouyi's reputation would be ruined, making him similar to Li Genmiao who assassinated the Grand Celestial Master Zhang Yin. At that point, even the Celestial Master Mansion might not be able to remain indifferent.
"Damn it!"
Yan Shouyi's true self, located in the back mountain, ran barefoot towards the main hall.
"What's wrong?!" Changshan chased after him and asked.
Yan Shouyi gritted his teeth, "Your Uncle Miaohua seems to have gone mad and attacked Venerable Abbot Yansong!"
Changshan also found it incredible, "Uncle Miaohua? Why would he do that?"
"Why are you asking me? I'm asking you! The priority is to rush over and help! Notify Senior Benheng!" Yan Shouyi said anxiously.
The main hall door was tightly shut. Affected by the power of the precepts, Benheng, standing outside the hall, had no idea what was happening inside.
"I have this day all because of you, because of you!"
Miaohua continuously struck Venerable Abbot Yansong with his six-ringed tin staff, roaring with grief.
Venerable Abbot Yansong had already been beaten to a bloody pulp and was on the verge of death.
As if tired, Miaohua threw aside the six-ringed tin staff and sat beside Yansong, sneering, "You divided good and evil into two, keeping the good thoughts for yourself to cultivate into Buddhahood, and injecting the evil thoughts into my body. Do you know how much I have been tormented by your evil thoughts over the years?!"
"For so many years, your evil thoughts have constantly tried to devour my consciousness and defile the Buddha in my heart. Influenced by the evil thoughts, my temperament changed drastically, making me cruel and bloodthirsty. Because you were too benevolent, you always let me go... Was it out of guilt for me, or did you not want your evil thoughts to be punished?"
"Haha! I wish you had locked me in a dungeon, so your evil thoughts wouldn't have caused any more trouble! — And now, you're finally reaping what you sowed!"
Hearing Miaohua's words, Yan Shouyi was utterly shocked.
Venerable Abbot Yansong, like the eminent monk Shi Minggao of Zhengde Temple back then, had split his good and evil thoughts into two?
He kept the good thoughts and became the respected abbot of Han Mountain Temple, but injected the evil thoughts into Miaohua's body, causing Miaohua's temperament to change drastically?
And Venerable Abbot Yansong, due to the presence of his own evil thoughts within Miaohua, ignored Miaohua's wicked deeds?
Holy crap, this is too outrageous!
All of Yan Shouyi's confusion was resolved.
For a moment, he didn't know whether to sympathize with Venerable Abbot Yansong or Monk Miaohua.
The evil thoughts, like an inner demon, took root and sprouted within Miaohua, guiding him to commit various evil acts, none of which were Miaohua's own doing.
One could imagine how much suffering Miaohua had endured over the years.
Therefore, he had been lurking here, not to kill Yan Shouyi, but to find an opportunity to kill Venerable Abbot Yansong!
"I've waited for a long, long time, and finally found an opportunity..."
Miaohua smiled. He picked up the six-ringed tin staff and pointed its sharp end at Venerable Abbot Yansong's head.
With just a slight push, he could pierce the old man's body and avenge his grievance, achieving eternal liberation...